Coordinate measuring apparatus for measuring input position of a touch and a coordinate indicating apparatus and driving method thereof

ABSTRACT

A coordinate measuring apparatus and a method of controlling the same are provided. The coordinate measuring apparatus includes a touch panel comprising a plurality of electrodes, a driver configured to generate a driving signal and to provide the driving signal to the touch panel, a receiver configured to receive from the touch panel a first receiving signal and a second receiving signal corresponding to a signal transmitted from a coordinate indicating apparatus, and a processor configured to identify a form of a user&#39;s grip on the coordinate indicating apparatus based on the first receiving signal, and identify an activation region and a deactivation region of the touch panel based on the identified form of the user&#39;s grip and the second receiving signal.

PRIORITY

This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/267,940, which was filed in the U.S. Patent andTrademark Office on Sep. 16, 2016, which is a Continuation in Part ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/322,457, which was filed in the U.S.Patent and Trademark Office on Jul. 2, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No.9,927,938, issued on Mar. 27, 2018, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C.§ 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/220,519, whichwas filed on Sep. 18, 2015 in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, andunder 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to Korean Patent Application Nos.10-2013-0078176 and 10-2016-0093257, which were filed on Jul. 4, 2013and Jul. 22, 2016, respectively, in the Korean Intellectual PropertyOffice, the entire disclosure of each of which is incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates generally to a coordinate measuringapparatus and a method of controlling the same, and more particularly,to a coordinate measuring apparatus and a method of controlling thesame, for simultaneously measuring touch positions of a user hand and astylus pen.

2. Description of the Related Art

Recently, smart phones and tablet personal computers (PCs) have becomewidely used and technologies for a touch coordinate measuring apparatusinstalled therein have been actively developed. A smart phone or atablet PC includes a touchscreen and a user may determine a certainpoint on the touchscreen indicated by using a finger or a stylus pen. Auser may determine a certain point on a touchscreen to input a certainsignal to a smart phone.

A conventional touchscreen detects only a user finger touch or only astylus pen touch.

However, recently, there is an increasing need to employ a user's fingertouch during a procedure using a stylus pen, and thus, there is a needfor a method of recognizing both a user's finger touch and stylus pentouch.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present disclosure provides a coordinate measuringapparatus and a method of controlling the same, for simultaneouslymeasuring touch positions of a user's hand and a stylus pen.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a processor that maydetermine a position of a coordinate indicating apparatus based on asecond receiving signal.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a processor that maydetermine an entirety of a touch panel as an activation region if aposition of a coordinate indicating apparatus is not determined,determine only a preset region of the touch panel as an activationregion, and determine a remaining region as a deactivation region if aposition of the coordinate indicating apparatus is determined.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a preset region thatmay be an upper region of a touch panel.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a processor that maydetermine a form of a user's grip on a coordinate indicating apparatusand determine an activation region based on the determined form of theuser's grip and a determined position of the coordinate indicatingapparatus.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a processor that maydetermine a left side or an upper-left side as an activation regionbased on a determined position if the form of a user's grip is aright-handed grip and determine a right side or an upper-right side asan activation region based on the determined position if the form of theuser's grip is a left-handed grip.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a processor that maydetermine a form of a user's grip based on a first receiving signal.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a receiver that maynot receive a first receiving signal of an electrode corresponding to adetermined deactivation region.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a processor that maycalculate a capacitance between electrodes at intersections of aplurality of electrodes using a first receiving signal and determine ahand position using only the calculated capacitance corresponding to adetermined activation region.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a processor that maycalculate only capacitance between electrodes corresponding to anactivation region among intersections of a plurality of electrodes anddetermine a hand position using the calculated capacitance.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a processor that maycontrol a driver and a receiver to alternately receive a first receivingsignal and a second receiving signal.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a touch panel that mayinclude a first electrode group including a plurality of firstelectrodes arranged in a first direction, and a second electrode groupincluding a plurality of second electrodes arranged in a seconddirection perpendicular to the first direction, where the receiver mayreceive a second receiving signal from a remaining portion of the firstelectrode group, where a driver drives a portion of a first electrodegroup in order to generate a first receiving signal.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a first receivingsignal and a second receiving signal that may be signals of differentfrequency bands.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a driver that maygenerate a first driving signal for generating a first receiving signaland a second driving signal for generating a signal of a coordinateindicating an apparatus approaching a coordinate measuring apparatus viacoupling, where the first driving signal and the second driving signalmay be signals of different frequency bands.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a method that mayfurther include determining a position of a coordinate indicatingapparatus based on a second receiving signal.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a method ofdetermining an activation region of the touch panel that may includedetermining an entirety of a touch panel as an activation region if aposition of a coordinate indicating apparatus is not determined,determining only a preset region of the touch panel as an activationregion, and determining a remaining region as a deactivation region ifthe position of the coordinate indicating apparatus is determined.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a preset region thatmay be an upper region of a touch panel.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a method ofdetermining an activation region that may include determining a form ofa user's grip on a coordinate indicating apparatus and determining anactivation region based on the determined form of the user's grip and adetermined position of the coordinate indicating apparatus.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a method ofdetermining an activation region that may include determining a leftside or an upper-left side as an activation region based on a determinedposition if a form of a user's grip is a right-handed grip anddetermining a right side or an upper-right side as an activation regionbased on the determined position if the form of the user's grip is aleft-handed grip.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a coordinatemeasuring apparatus is provided. The coordinate measuring apparatusincludes a touch panel including a plurality of electrodes, a driverconfigured to generate a driving signal and to provide the drivingsignal to the touch panel, a receiver configured to receive a firstreceiving signal for detecting a change in capacitance from the touchpanel and a second receiving signal corresponding to a signaltransmitted from a coordinate indicating apparatus, and a processorconfigured to determine an activation region from which a hand positionis detected, based on the second receiving signal, and determine thehand position in the determined activation region.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a method ofcontrolling a coordinate measuring apparatus including a touch panel isprovided. The method includes generating, by a driver, a driving signaland providing the driving signal to the touch panel, receiving, by areceiver, a first receiving signal for detecting a change in capacitanceof the touch panel, receiving, by the receiver, a second receivingsignal corresponding to a signal transmitted from a coordinateindicating apparatus, determining, by a processor, an activation regionfrom which a hand position is detected, based on the second receivingsignal, and determining, by the processor, the hand position in thedetermined activation region.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the presentdisclosure will be more apparent from the following detaileddescription, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a coordinate indicating system according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a coordinate measuring apparatus accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a side view of a touchscreen according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a second touch panel of FIG. 3 according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method of controlling a coordinate measuringapparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method of controlling a coordinate measuringapparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 7 to 9 are diagrams of operations illustrated in FIG. 6 accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a method of controlling a coordinate measuringapparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a method of controlling a coordinate measuringapparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a method of controlling a coordinate measuringapparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 13 and 14 are diagrams of a controlling method illustrated in FIG.12 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 15 and 16 are diagrams of a controlling method according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a coordinate measuring apparatus accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 18 is a diagram of the coordinate measuring apparatus of FIG. 17according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 19 to 21 are diagrams of a controlling method according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 22 to 23 are diagrams of a controlling method according to anembodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 24 is a flowchart of a controlling method according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be modified in differentways. Accordingly, certain embodiments of the present disclosure areillustrated in the accompanying drawings and are described below indetail. However, it should be understood that the present disclosure isnot limited to a certain embodiment of the present disclosure, but isintended to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutionswithin the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appendedclaims and their equivalents. In addition, well-known functions orconstructions are not described below in detail since they would obscurethe present disclosure with unnecessary detail.

The terms “first,” “second,” etc. may be used to describe differentcomponents, but the components are not limited by the terms. The termsare only used to distinguish one component from another.

The terms used in the present disclosure are only used to describe theembodiments of the present disclosure, but are not intended to limit thescope of the present disclosure. A singular expression also includes theplural meaning as long as it is not defined otherwise in the context. Inthe present disclosure, the terms “include” and “consist of” indicatethe presence of features, numbers, steps, operations, components,elements, or a combination thereof that are described in the presentdisclosure, but do not exclude the presence or possibility of theaddition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations,components, elements, or a combination thereof.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the terms “module” and“unit” each indicate a component that performs at least one function oroperation, which may be implemented with hardware, software, or acombination of hardware and software. In addition, a plurality ofmodules or a plurality of units may be integrated into at least onemodule, except for a module or a unit that must be implemented withcertain hardware, and may be implemented with at least one processor.

Hereinafter, the present disclosure is described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a coordinate indicating system according to anexemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, the coordinate measuring system may include acoordinate measuring apparatus 100 and a coordinate indicating apparatus200.

The coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may detect a stylus pen and/or apart of a user's body such as a finger and determine a coordinate of atouch position.

A configuration and operation of the coordinate measuring apparatus 100is described below in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 17. In FIG.1, the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 is illustrated in the form ofa smart phone or a tablet PC, but the present disclosure is not limitedthereto. In detail, the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may be atouchpad or touchscreen, or an electronic device including a touchpad ortouchscreen, such as a notebook computer, a cellular phone, a smartphone, a portable multimedia player (PMP), and a moving picture expertsgroup audio layer 3 (MP3) player.

The coordinate indicating apparatus 200 may transmit a signal to atleast one electrode in the coordinate measuring apparatus 100. Thecoordinate indicating apparatus 200 may be configured in the form of astylus pen, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Thecoordinate indicating apparatus 200 may be a stylus pen using a passivemethod in which the stylus pen is operated using a driving signalprovided from an external device as well as an active method in whichthe stylus pen is operated using it own power. The coordinate indicatingapparatus 200 such as a stylus pen may have a relatively small toucharea as compared to a finger.

The coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may determine whether a touch isperformed by the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 such as a styluspen or a finger. That is, the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 mayidentify a type of an object that causes a touch (e.g. a touch object).For example, a touch object may be a conductive object such as a fingeror a stylus pen that is different from a conductive object.

The coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may preferentially measure atouch position of a touch object. In detail, the coordinate measuringapparatus 100 may measure a position of a touch object according to achange in capacitance due to a touch of a touch object. Positionmeasurement according to a capacitance change is described below ingreater detail.

The coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may include a digitizer. Adigitizer may include at least one loop, where the at least one loop mayallow the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 to interpolate an intensityof a reception (Rx) signal input to each loop of the coordinateindicating apparatus 200 based on a preset timing schedule so as toprecisely determine a touch position of the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200. This embodiment of the present disclosure is describedbelow with reference to FIG. 4. In this case, interpolation may refer toa method of acquiring a value of a function for an arbitraryintermediate variable if only values of the continuous function areknown for sparse values of the variable.

The coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may further include a touchscreenpanel. The touchscreen panel may be configured as, for example, acapacitive type touchscreen panel and may detect a change in capacitanceaccording to a finger touch. The touchscreen panel may determine a touchposition of a finger based on a change in the detected capacitance. Forexample, the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may measure a positionof the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 such as a finger and a styluspen using only a capacitive type touchscreen panel as described belowwith reference to FIG. 17.

The coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may further include a displaydevice. The display device may process a display signal and providevisual data to a user.

Although FIG. 1 illustrates the case in which one coordinate indicatingapparatus 200 is associated with the coordinate measuring apparatus 100,a plurality of coordinate indicating apparatuses may be associated withone coordinate measuring apparatus 100, and in this case, the coordinatemeasuring apparatus 100 may detect each of the plurality of coordinateindicating apparatuses.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the coordinate measuring apparatus 100according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2, the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may includea processor 110, a mobile communication module 120, a sub communicationmodule 130, a multimedia module 140, a camera module 150, a globalpositioning system (GPS) module 155, an input/output module 160, asensor module 170, a power supply 180, a touchscreen 190, and atouchscreen controller 195.

The coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may be connected to an externalapparatus using the mobile communication module 120, the subcommunication module 130, and a connector 165. The external apparatusmay include another apparatus, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a tabletPC, and a server.

The processor 110 may include a central processing unit (CPU) 111, aread only memory (ROM) 112 for storing a control program for controllingthe coordinate measuring apparatus 100, and a random access memory (RAM)113 used as a record region for recording data or a signal input fromoutside the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 or an operation performedby the coordinate measuring apparatus 100. The CPU 111 may include asingle core, a dual core, a triple core, or a quad core. The CPU 111,the ROM 112, and the RAM 113 may be connected to each other through aninternal bus.

The processor 110 may control the mobile communication module 120, thesub communication module 130, the multimedia module 140, the cameramodule 150, the GPS module 155, the input/output module 160, the sensormodule 170, the storage 175, the power supply 180, the touchscreen 190,and the touchscreen controller 195. The processor 110 may be referred toas a controller or a control unit in that the processor 110 controlscomponents in the coordinate measuring apparatus 100.

The processor 110 may determine a touch state of a hand and/or thecoordinate indicating apparatus 200 based on a signal received by thetouchscreen 190. The processor 110 may determine a position of the handand/or the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 based on the signalreceived by the touchscreen 190. The processor 110 may determine adetection region of a touch of a hand (e.g. a hand touch) on thetouchscreen 190 based on a signal received by the touchscreen 190. Inthis case, the detection region of a hand touch may be an activationregion of the touchscreen 190, in which the hand touch is detected, anda touchscreen region except that the activation region may be determinedas a non-activation region.

The mobile communication module 120 may allow the coordinate measuringapparatus 100 to be connected to an external apparatus through mobilecommunication (e.g., wireless communication such as global system formobile communications (GSM), universal mobile telecommunications system(UMTS), long term evolution (LTE), and wireless broadband (WiBRO)) usingat least one antenna under control of the processor 110. The mobilecommunication module 120 may transmit/receive a radio signal for voicecall, video call, a short message service (SMS), or a multimediamessaging service (MMS) to/from a cellular phone, a smart phone, atablet PC, or another apparatus, which has a telephone number input tothe coordinate measuring apparatus 100.

The sub communication module 130 may include at least one of a wirelesslocal area network (LAN) module 131 and a short distance communicationmodule 132. For example, the sub communication module 130 may includeonly the wireless LAN module 131, only the short distance communicationmodule 132, or both the wireless LAN module 131 and the short distancecommunication module 132.

The wireless LAN module 131 may be connected to the Internet through awireless access point (AP) under control of the processor 110. Thewireless LAN module 131 may support a wireless LAN standard of Instituteof Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) (e.g. IEEE 802.11x).

The short distance communication module 132 may wirelessly perform ashort distance communication between the coordinate measuring apparatus100 and an external apparatus under control of the processor 110. Forexample, if a touch position of a hand or a stylus pen in a region forreceiving a command for transmitting certain data, the short distancecommunication module 132 may wirelessly transmit the certain data to anexternal apparatus. In detail, a short distance communication methodcorresponding to a touch position via the short distance communicationmodule 132 may include Bluetooth®, Infrared Data Association (IrDA)communication, and so on.

The coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may include at least one of themobile communication module 120, the wireless LAN module 131, and theshort distance communication module 132. For example, the coordinatemeasuring apparatus 100 may include combinations of the mobilecommunication module 120, the wireless LAN module 131, and the shortdistance communication module 132 according to capability.

The multimedia module 140 may include at least one of a broadcastcommunication module 141, an audio reproduction module 142, and a videoreproduction module 143.

The broadcast communication module 141 may receive a broadcast signal(e.g., a TV broadcast signal, a radio broadcast signal, or a databroadcast signal) and broadcast additional information (e.g., anelectronic program guide (EPG) or an electronic service guide (ESG)),which are transmitted from a broadcaster through a broadcastcommunication antenna, under control of the processor 110.

The audio reproduction module 142 may reproduce a digital audio file(e.g., a file with a file extension of “mp3,” “wma,” “ogg,” or “way”)that is stored or received under control of the processor 110.

The video reproduction module 143 may reproduce a digital video file(e.g., a file with a file extension of “mpeg,” “mpg,” “mp4,” “avi,”“mov,” or “mkv”) that is stored or received under control of theprocessor 110. The video reproduction module 143 may reproduce a digitalaudio file.

The multimedia module 140 may include the audio reproduction module 142and the video reproduction module 143 by excluding the broadcastcommunication module 141. The audio reproduction module 142 or the videoreproduction module 143 of the multimedia module 140 may be included inthe processor 110.

The camera module 150 may include at least one of a first camera 151 anda second camera 152, which captures a still image or a video image undercontrol of the processor 110. The first camera 151 or the second camera152 may include an auxiliary light source (e.g., a flash) for providingan amount of light required for photographing.

The first camera 151 may be disposed on a front surface of thecoordinate measuring apparatus 100 and the second camera 152 may bedisposed on a rear surface of the coordinate measuring apparatus 100.The first camera 151 and the second camera 152 may be disposed to beadjacent to each other (e.g., where an interval between the first camera151 and the second camera 152 is greater than 1 cm but less than 8 cm)and may capture a three-dimensional (3D) still image or a 3D videoimage.

The GPS module 155 may receive electrical waves from a plurality of GPSsatellites placed in an earth orbit and calculate a position of thecoordinate measuring apparatus 100 using the time of arrival of anelectrical wave to the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 from a GPSsatellite.

The input/output module 160 may include at least one button 161, amicrophone 162, a speaker 163, a vibration motor 164, the connector 165,and a key pad 166.

The at least one button 161 may be formed on a front surface, a lateralsurface, or a rear surface of a housing of the coordinate measuringapparatus 100 and may include at least one of a power/lock button, avolume up button, a volume down button, a menu button, a home button, aback button, or a search button.

The microphone 162 may receive voice or sound to generate an electricalsignal under control of the processor 110.

The speaker 163 may output sound corresponding to various signals (e.g.,a radio signal, a broadcast signal, a digital audio file, a digitalvideo file, or a sound of taking a photograph) of the mobilecommunication module 120, the sub communication module 130, themultimedia module 140, or the camera module 150 under control of theprocessor 110 externally of the coordinate measuring apparatus 100.

The speaker 163 may output sound (e.g., a button manipulation soundcorresponding to a telephone conversation or a ring back tone)corresponding to a function performed by the coordinate measuringapparatus 100. At least one speaker 163 may be formed at an appropriateposition or positions of a housing of the coordinate measuring apparatus100.

The vibration motor 164 may convert an electrical signal into mechanicalvibration under control of the processor 110. For example, if thecoordinate measuring apparatus 100 in a vibration mode receives a voicecall from another apparatus, the vibration motor 164 may be operated. Atleast one vibration motor 164 may be formed in a housing of thecoordinate measuring apparatuses 100. The vibration motor 164 may beoperated in response to a user touching the touchscreen 190 and acontinuous movement of a touch on the touchscreen 190.

The connector 165 may be used as an interface for connecting thecoordinate measuring apparatus 100 to an external apparatus or a powersource. In detail, the connector 165 may transmit data stored in thestorage 175 of the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 to an externalapparatus or receive data from an external apparatus through a wiredcable connected to the connector 165 under control of the processor 110.Power may be input from a power source through a wired cable connectedto the connector 165 or may charge a battery.

The key pad 166 may receive a key input from a user for controlling thecoordinate measuring apparatus 100. The key pad 166 may include aphysical key pad formed in the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 or avirtual key pad displayed on the touchscreen 190. A physical key padformed in the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may be excludedaccording to the capability or configuration of the coordinate measuringapparatus 100.

The sensor module 170 may include at least one sensor for detecting astate of the coordinate measuring apparatus 100. For example, the sensormodule 170 may include a proximity sensor for detecting whether a userapproaches the coordinate measuring apparatus 100, an illuminationsensor for detecting an amount of light around the coordinate measuringapparatus 100, or a motion sensor for detecting an operation (e.g.,rotation of the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 or acceleration orvibration applied to the coordinate measuring apparatus 100) of thecoordinate measuring apparatus 100. At least one sensor may detect astate, generate a signal corresponding to the detection, and transmitthe signal to the processor 110. A sensor of the sensor module 170 maybe added or deleted according to the capability of the coordinatemeasuring apparatus 100.

The storage 175 may store a signal or data that is input/output tocorrespond to operations of the mobile communication module 120, the subcommunication module 130, the multimedia module 140, the camera module150, the GPS module 155, the input/output module 160, the sensor module170, and the touchscreen 190 under control of the processor 110. Thestorage 175 may store control programs and applications for controllingthe coordinate measuring apparatus 100 or the processor 110.

The term “storage” may include the storage 175, the ROM 112 and the RAM113 in the processor 110, and a memory card (e.g., a secure digital (SD)card and a memory stick) installed in the coordinate measuring apparatus100. The storage may include a non-volatile memory, a volatile memory, ahard disk drive (HDD), or a solid state drive (SSD).

The power supply 180 may supply power to at least one battery disposedin the housing of the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 under controlof the processor 110. The at least one battery may supply power to thecoordinate measuring apparatus 100. The power supply 180 may supplypower input from an external power source through a wired cableconnected to the connector 165 to the coordinate measuring apparatus100.

The touchscreen 190 may provide a user interface corresponding tovarious services (e.g., a call, data transmission, a broadcast, andtaking a photograph) to a user. The touchscreen 190 may transmit asignal corresponding to at least one touch input to a user interface tothe touchscreen controller 195. The touchscreen 190 may receive at leastone position input via a touch by a part of a user's body (e.g., afinger or a thumb) or a touchable input element (e.g., a stylus pen).The touchscreen 190 may receive a continuous motion of a touch among atleast one touches. The touchscreen 190 may transmit a signalcorresponding to a continuous motion of an input touch to thetouchscreen controller 195.

In the present disclosure, a touch is not be limited to a touch by apart of a user's body or a touch by an input element with thetouchscreen 190, but may include a non-touch. An interval for detectionin the touchscreen 190 may be changed according to the capability orstructure of the coordinate measuring apparatus 100.

The touchscreen 190 may include, for example, a first touch panel 190 aand a second touch panel 190 b. In this case, the first touch panel 190a may measure a touch or the proximity of a part of a user body. Forexample, the first touch panel 190 a may be configured in a resistivemanner, a capacitive manner, an infrared manner, or an acoustic wavemanner. In this case, the processor 110 may determine a signal forcontrolling a display 190 c from among detected signals of the firsttouch panel 190 a.

The second touch panel 190 b may measure a touch or the proximity of adevice such as a stylus pen. For example, the second touch panel 190 bmay be configured in an electromagnetic (EMR) measuring manner.

The display 190 c may display a received image signal.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the touchscreen 190 may beconfigured as only one touch panel. For example, a touch of a part of auser body and a position of the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 suchas a stylus pen may be detected through a touch panel operated in anelectrically coupled resonance (ECR) manner, as described below withreference to FIG. 17.

The touchscreen controller 195 may convert a signal received from thetouchscreen 190 into a digital signal (e.g., X and Y coordinates) andtransmit the digital signal to the processor 110. In this case, theprocessor 110 may control the touchscreen 190 using a digital signalreceived from the touchscreen controller 195. For example, the processor110 may select a shortcut icon displayed on the touchscreen 190 orexecute an application related to a shortcut icon in response to atouch. The touchscreen controller 195 may be included in the processor110. The touchscreen controller 195 may include, for example, a firsttouch panel controller 195 a for controlling the first touch panel 190 aand a second touch panel controller 195 b for controlling the secondtouch panel 190 b.

Although the present embodiment has been described in terms of a case inwhich the touchscreen controller 195 generates a digital signal, thatis, a case in which the touchscreen controller 195 detects a position ofa hand or a position of a coordinate indicating apparatus 200, aposition determining operation may also be performed by the processor110.

The processor 110 may detect various user inputs received through thecamera module 150, the input/output module 160, the sensor module 170,and so on as well as the touchscreen 190. A user input may includevarious forms of information items input to the coordinate measuringapparatus 100, such as a gesture, a voice, an eye movement, a bio-signalof a user, and a touch. The processor 110 may control the coordinatemeasuring apparatus 100 to perform a predetermined operation or functionaccording to a detected user input.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the touchscreen 190 according to an embodimentof the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3, the second touch panel 190 b, the display 190 c,and the first touch panel 190 a may be sequentially stacked. In detail,the display 190 c may be disposed on the second touch panel 190 b andthe first touch panel 190 a may be disposed on the display 190 c.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first touch panel 190 aand the display 190 c may be configured as one touchscreen 190.

The second touch panel 190 b may measure an electromagnetic signalreceived from the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 such as a styluspen to measure an input point indicated by the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200.

The first touch panel 190 a may measure a change in capacitance of atouch point of a user's finger to measure the touch point of the finger.For example, in order to measure a change in capacitance of a touchpoint of a user's finger, the first touch panel 190 a may include anelectrode channel formed of a transparent material such as indium tinoxide (ITO) so as to allow a user to view an image output from thedisplay 190 c.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of the second touch panel 190 b of FIG. 3 accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 4, the second touch panel 190 b may be configured witha loop portion 400.

The loop portion 400 may include a first loop 401, a second loop 402, athird loop 403, and a fourth loop 404. In this case, the first loop 401to the fourth loop 404 may be arranged in a longitudinal direction of ay-axis direction rather than in an x-axis direction. The first loop 401to the fourth loop 404 may each transmit an electromagnetic signal,i.e., a transmission (Tx) signal or receive an electromagnetic signal,i.e., an Rx signal. First ends of the first loop 401 to the fourth loop404 may be connected to a first switch 411, a second switch 412, a thirdswitch 413, and a fourth switch 414, respectively of an X-selectioncircuit 410. Second ends of the first loop 401 to the fourth loop 404may be connected to a common terminal “com.”

The processor 110 may control the first switch 411 to the fourth switch414 of the X-selection circuit 410 to control a connection state of thefirst loop 401 to the fourth loop 404 with the processor 110. Forexample, the processor 110 may control the first switch 411 for a firstsub period in an on state. That is, the processor 110 may connect thefirst loop 401 to the processor 110 for the first sub period. Theprocessor 110 may control a second switch 412 to connect the second loop402 to the processor 110 for a second sub period, control the thirdswitch 413 to connect the third loop 403 to the processor 110 for athird sub period, and control the fourth switch 414 to connect thefourth loop 404 to the processor 110 for a fourth sub period.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method of controlling the coordinatemeasuring apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 5, the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 maydetermine a touch state (or a detection state) of the coordinateindicating apparatus 200 at step S510. In detail, the coordinatemeasuring apparatus 100 may determine whether a size of an Rx signalreceived from the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 is greater than orequal to a preset size. For example, if the size of the Rx signalreceived from the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 is greater than orequal to the preset size, the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 maydetermine that the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 is touched. Ifthe size of the Rx signal received from the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200 is less than the preset size, the coordinate measuringapparatus 100 may determine that the coordinate indicating apparatus 200is not touched. In this case, the touch state may refer to a state inwhich the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 either touches thecoordinate measuring apparatus 100 or is positioned within a presetdistance of the coordinate indicating apparatus 200.

Then, the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may determine an activearea of a first touch panel 190 a(a) to correspond to a touch state ofthe coordinate indicating apparatus 200 at step S520. In detail, upondetermining that the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 is touched, thecoordinate measuring apparatus 100 may activate only a preset portion ofthe first touch panel 190 a. In addition, upon determining that thecoordinate indicating apparatus 200 is not touched, the coordinatemeasuring apparatus 100 may activate an entire area of the first touchpanel 190 a.

As described above, the first touch panel 190 a may detect a touch of apart of a user's body such as a finger. If the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200 is touched by the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 suchas a pen, the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may activate only apart of portion of the first touch panel 190 a and deactivate theremaining portion and, thus, a touch of a part of a user's body may notbe detected. Accordingly, even if a user performs an input whilegripping a stylus pen and touching the touchscreen 190 with a part of ahand, a malfunction due to a touch between the hand and the touchscreen190 may be prevented.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method of controlling a coordinate measuringapparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.FIGS. 7 to 9 are diagrams of operations illustrated in FIG. 6 accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 6, the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may activatean entirety of a first touch panel 190 a at step S610. In detail, asillustrated in FIG. 7, the processor 110 may activate an entirety of anelectrode portion 601. Hereinafter, a configuration of the first touchpanel 190 a is described below in detail with reference to FIG. 7.

Referring to FIG. 7, the first touch panel 190 a may include theelectrode portion 601, x-axis electrode wirings 611, 612, 613, and 614,the y-axis electrode wirings 621, 622, 623, and 624, and an integratedcircuit (IC) 630.

The electrode portion 601 may detect a touch of a part of a user's body.For example, a change in capacitance due to a touch of a part of auser's body may be detected. The x-axis electrode wirings 611, 612, 613,and 614 and the y-axis electrode wirings 621, 622, 623, and 624 mayoutput signals input from the electrode portion 601 to the IC 630. TheIC 630 may determine a touch point of a part of a user's body based onsignals received from the x-axis electrode wirings 611, 612, 613, and614 and the y-axis electrode wirings 621, 622, 623, and 624.

Referring to FIG. 6, the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may detect apen signal at step S620. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 8, acoordinate indicating apparatus (e.g. a stylus pen) 200 may approach thecoordinate measuring apparatus 100. As the stylus pen 200 is placed onthe coordinate measuring apparatus 100, the second touch panel 190 b maydetect the stylus pen 200.

Upon determining that the pen signal is detected at step S630, thecoordinate measuring apparatus 100 may activate only a preset part ofthe first touch panel 190 a at step S630. For example, as illustrated inFIG. 9, the processor 110 may activate only an upper portion 650 (e.g. ahatched region) of the electrode portion 601. Accordingly, even if apart of a user's body touches the remaining portion (e.g. a deactivationregion) of the electrode portion 601, the IC 630 may not detect thetouch, thereby preventing a malfunction due to touch of a part of auser's body.

Even if a pen signal is detected, a hand touch of a user may be detectedfrom a predetermined region, and the user may input various touchgestures such as an edge flick through the corresponding region.

The remaining region, except for a preset region (i.e., an upperregion), may be set as a deactivation region, thereby preventing a toucherror due to a hand touch, i.e., a touch of a palm during a procedure ofgripping a stylus pen.

Although the case in which only an upper region of a first touch regionis used as an activation region is described above, the activationregion may be set using various methods, which are described below withreference to FIGS. 16, 22, and 23.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a method of controlling the coordinatemeasuring apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 10, the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 maydetermine a touch state (or a detection state) of the coordinateindicating apparatus 200 at step S1010. In detail, the coordinatemeasuring apparatus 100 may determine whether a size of an Rx signalreceived from the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 is greater than orequal to a preset size and determine that the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200 is touched if the size of the Rx signal received from thecoordinate indicating apparatus 200 is greater than or equal to thepreset size. The coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may determine thatthe coordinate measuring apparatus 100 is not touched if the size of theRx signal received from the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 is lessthan the preset size.

Then, the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may determine which signalis used among output signals of the first touch panel 190 a so as tocorrespond to the touch state of the coordinate indicating apparatus 200at step S1020. For example, upon determining that the coordinateindicating apparatus 200 is touched, the coordinate measuring apparatus100 may use only a preset signal among the output signals of the firsttouch panel 190 a.

If the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 does not touch the coordinatemeasuring apparatus 100, the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may useall of the output signals of the first touch panel 190 a. As describedabove, the first touch panel 190 a may detect a touch by a part of auser's body such as a user finger. In response to the coordinatemeasuring apparatus 100 being touched by a coordinate indicatingapparatus 200 such as a pen, the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 mayuse only a preset signal among the output signals of the first touchpanel 190 a and may not use the remaining signals and, thus, may notdetect a touch by a part of a user's body. Accordingly, even if a userperforms an input while gripping a stylus pen and touching thetouchscreen 190 with a part of a hand, a malfunction due to a touchbetween the hand and the touchscreen 190 may be prevented.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a method of controlling the coordinatemeasuring apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 11, the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may use allsignals output from the first touch panel 190 a at step S1110. Forexample, in FIG. 7, the processor 110 may determine an input point of apart of a user body using all signals input from the x-axis electrodewirings 611, 612, 613, and 614 and the y-axis electrode wirings 621,622, 623, and 624.

The coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may detect a pen signal at stepS1120. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the stylus pen 200 mayapproach the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 and a second touch panel190 b may detect a signal of the stylus pen 200.

In this case, the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may determine aninput point of a part of a user body using only some signals at stepS1130. That is, the processor 110 may not use the signal input from they-axis electrode wirings 622, 623, and 624. Accordingly, even if theuser touches portions corresponding to the y-axis electrode wirings 622,623, and 624 with a part of the user's body, a malfunction due to thetouch may be prevented.

A touch of a user's hand may be detected in an activation region and,thus, various gestures of the user among position detection operationsof the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 may be simultaneously input.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a method of controlling the coordinatemeasuring apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. FIGS. 13 and 14 are diagrams of the controlling methodillustrated in FIG. 12.

Referring to FIG. 12, the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 mayactivate an entirety of the first touch panel 190 a at step S1210.

The coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may determine whether a height(i.e., a distance between the second touch panel 190 b and a conductivetip of the coordinate indicating apparatus 200) of the coordinateindicating apparatus 200 is less than a hovering height at step S1220.In detail, the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may determine that theheight of the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 is less than thehovering height based on a size of a signal received from the coordinateindicating apparatus 200.

If the height of the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 is greater thanor equal to the hovering height at step S1220, the coordinate measuringapparatus 100 may maintain activation of the entirety of the first touchpanel 190 a at step S1210. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 13, ifthe distance between the second touch panel 190 b and the coordinateindicating apparatus 200 is greater than or equal to a hovering height(h), the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 may maintain activation ofthe entirety of the first touch panel 190 a. In this case, whether thedistance between the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 and the secondtouch panel 190 b is equal to, greater than, or less than the hoveringheight (h) may be determined according to whether the intensity of an Rxsignal input to the second touch panel 190 b from the coordinateindicating apparatus 200 is less than or equal to, or greater than apreset threshold value. For example, if the intensity of an Rx signalinput to the second touch panel 190 b from the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200 is less than or equal to the preset threshold value, theprocessor 110 may determine a distance between the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200 and the second touch panel 190 b is greater than or equalto the hovering height (h). In addition, if the intensity of the Rxsignal input to the second touch panel 190 b from the coordinateindicating apparatus 200 exceeds a preset threshold value, the processor110 may determine that a distance between the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200 and the second touch panel 190 b is less than the hoveringheight (h).

If a height of the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 is less than thehovering height (h) at step S1220, the coordinate measuring apparatus100 may activate only a preset portion of the first touch panel 190 a atstep S1230. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 14, if a distancebetween the second touch panel 190 b and the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200 is less than the hovering height (h), the coordinatemeasuring apparatus 100 may activate only a preset portion of the firsttouch panel 190 a.

That is, the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 may determine anactivation region of the first touch panel 190 a according to a distancebetween the coordinate measuring apparatus 100 and the coordinateindicating apparatus 200. In this case, the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200 may change the size of the activation region by as much asa distance corresponding to the height of the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200. For example, if the height of the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200 is greater than or equal to a first height, the coordinateindicating apparatus 200 may determine an entire region of the secondtouch panel 190 b as the activation region, if the height of thecoordinate indicating apparatus 200 is greater than or equal to a secondheight that is smaller than the first height, the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200 may determine a half region of the second touch panel 190b as the activation region, and if the height of the coordinateindicating apparatus 200 corresponds to a state (i.e., a third heightsmaller than the second height) where the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200 touches the first touch panel 190 a, the coordinateindicating apparatus 200 may determine only a portion (with a sizeillustrated in FIG. 9) of an upper region of the second touch panel 190b as the activation region.

FIGS. 15 and 16 are diagrams of a controlling method according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 15, the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 may toucha first point 900 on the touchscreen 190. For example, if a user gripsthe coordinate indicating apparatus 200 with a right hand, it may belikely that a portion positioned in a preset region of the first point900 is touched by the right hand of the user.

As illustrated in FIG. 16, the processor 110 may determine a hatchedregion as an activation region. The processor 110 may use only thesignals output from the x-axis electrode wirings 611 and 612 and they-axis electrode wirings 621 and 622 and may not use the signals outputfrom the x-axis electrode wirings 613 and 614 and the y-axis electrodewirings 623 and 624.

As described above, only the portion that is likely to be touched by auser's hand may be deactivated so as to prevent a malfunction.Deactivation of the portion positioned in the present region of thefirst point 900 is exemplary and one of ordinary skill in the art maydeactivate the portion that is likely to be touched by a user's handusing various methods in relation to a portion of the touchscreen 190that is touched by the coordinate indicating apparatus 200.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a coordinate measuring apparatus 300according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 17, the coordinate measuring apparatus 300 may includea touch panel 310, a driver 330, a receiver 340, and a processor 350.The coordinate measuring apparatus 300, according to the presentembodiment, may detect a position of the coordinate indicating apparatus200 using an electrically coupled resonance (ECR) method.

The touch panel 310 may include a plurality of electrodes. In detail,the touch panel 310 may include a plurality of electrodes that arearranged in the form of a matrix. For example, the touch panel 310 mayinclude a plurality of first electrodes arranged in a first directionand a plurality of second electrodes arranged in a second directionperpendicular to the first direction. The arrangement and operations ofthe plurality of electrodes included in the touch panel 310 aredescribed below with reference to FIG. 18.

The driver 330 may generate a driving signal and provide the drivingsignal to a touch panel. In detail, the driver 330 may generate a firstdriving signal for detection of a hand touch and provide the signal toat least one of the electrodes of the touch panel 310. In this case, thefirst driving signal may have a driving frequency of 200 to 300 kHz.

Driving signals may be simultaneously provided to a plurality ofelectrodes for faster hand detection operations, and in this regard, ifthe same driving signal is provided to a plurality of electrodes, it maybe impossible to identify an electrode from which a driving signal thatcauses a response signal to be received according to the driving signalis applied. Accordingly, the driver 330 may simultaneously providedifferent first driving signals to a plurality of electrodes. In detail,the driver 330 may provide the first driving signals with differentdigital codes to the plurality of electrodes. Here, a digital code maybe a pulse signal having a binary number.

If an activation region/deactivation region is set according to a touchof the coordinate indicating apparatus 200, the driver 330 may not applya first driving signal to an electrode corresponding to the deactivationregion. For example, if the activation region is an upper end of thetouch panel 310, the first driving signal may be applied only to anelectrode of the corresponding upper end.

The driver 330 may generate a second driving signal for transmission toa resonance circuit of the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 thatapproaches the coordinate measuring apparatus 300 via capacitivecoupling. In detail, if the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 is astylus pen that operates in a passive manner, the driver 330 may apply adriving signal to electrodes in the touch panel 310 to transmit thedriving signal to a resonance circuit of an object that approaches thecoordinate measuring apparatus 300 via capacitive coupling.

In this case, the driver 330 may apply the same second driving signal inunits of a plurality of electrodes with respect to electrodes in thetouch panel 310 in order to transfer a significant amount of energy tothe coordinate indicating apparatus 200 if possible. In this case, thesecond driving signal may be a signal of a different frequency band fromthe first driving signal and may have a driving frequency of about 500kHz to 2 MHz.

For example, the driver 330 may collectively apply the same drivingsignal to all of a plurality of electrodes at a preset period unit, allof a plurality of electrodes that are arranged in the same direction,some adjacent electrodes among a plurality of electrodes that arearranged in the same direction, or two crossing electrodes. Such anapplying method is merely an example, and thus, methods other than theaforementioned examples may be used as long as driving signals aresimultaneously applied to two or more electrodes.

The aforementioned second driving signal may be a signal formed byfiltering higher-order harmonics of a signal frequency (or a resonancefrequency). In detail, an electronic device may restrict generation ofunnecessary noise according to the electromagnetic interference (EMI)standard according to a frequency. In this case, if higher-orderharmonics are filtered, high frequency noise may be reduced and, thus,it may be advantageous in terms of the EMI.

The receiver 340 may receive a first receiving signal for detecting achange in capacitance and receive a second receiving signalcorresponding to a signal transmitted to the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200. In this case, the receiver 340 may receive the secondreceiving signal after sequentially receiving all of the first receivingsignals required to detect a hand position. In this case, if anactivation region/deactivation region is set according to touch (ordetection) of the coordinate indicating apparatus 200, the receiver 340may receive only the first receiving signal of an electrodecorresponding to the activation region and then receive the secondreceiving signal of all electrodes. As such, a receiving operation ofthe first receiving signal of some electrodes may be omitted so as tomore rapidly perform an operation.

The receiver 340 may receive the first receiving signal from some of aplurality of electrodes and, simultaneously, may receive the secondreceiving signal from some of the other electrodes in plurality ofelectrodes. In detail, the receiver 340 may receive the first receivingsignal from some of the plurality of electrodes to which the firstdriving signal is not applied and receive the second receiving signalfrom some of the other electrodes to which the first driving signal isnot applied. A receiving operation of the receiver 340 is describedbelow in detail with reference to FIGS. 19 to 21.

The processor 350 may determine at least one of a position of a hand anda position of the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 based on thereceived first receiving signal and the second receiving signal. Indetail, the processor 350 may control the driver 330 to apply the firstdriving signal to some of the plurality of electrodes and control thereceiver 340 to receive the first receiving signal from some of theremaining electrodes and to simultaneously receive the second receivingsignal from some of the other remaining electrodes while the firstdriving signal is applied.

The processor 350 may calculate a capacitance between electrodes atintersections of a plurality of electrodes, which are formed between theelectrodes, using the first receiving signal and determine a position ofa hand based on the calculated capacitance.

The processor 350 may determine a position of the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200 based on a ratio between the second receiving signals thatare respectively received from the plurality of electrodes. For example,if the plurality of electrodes are arranged in the form of a matrix, aplurality of first electrodes are arranged in a first direction, and aplurality of second electrodes are arranged in a second directionperpendicular to the first direction, the processor 350 may determine atouch position of the second direction of the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200 based on a ratio between the second receiving signalsreceived from the first electrodes and determine a touch position of thefirst direction of the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 based on aratio between the second receiving signals received from the secondelectrodes.

The processor 350 may detect a touch pressure of the coordinateindicating apparatus 200 based on a change of resonance frequency of thereceived second receiving signal or detect an operation mode of thecoordinate indicating apparatus 200 based on a change of resonancefrequency of the received second receiving signal.

The processor 350 may determine the activation region from which a handposition is detected, based on the second receiving signal. In detail,if the second receiving signal is not detected or a size of the receivedsecond receiving signal is less than or equal to a preset size and,thus, a position of the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 is notdetermined, the processor 350 may determine an entirety of the touchpanel as the activation region. Upon detecting the second receivingsignal to determine the position of the coordinate indicating apparatus200, the processor 350 may determine only a preset region of the touchpanel 310 as the activation region and determine the remaining region asthe deactivation region.

In this case, the preset region may be a fixed region such as an upperregion of the touch panel 310 as illustrated in FIG. 9 or may be avariable region corresponding to a position of the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200.

If the preset region is the variable region, the processor 350 maydetermine a form of a user's grip on the coordinate indicating apparatus200 and determine the activation region based on the determined form ofthe user's grip and the detected position of the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200. For example, if the determined form of the user's grip isa right-handed grip, the processor 350 may determine a left side or anupper-left side based on the detected position of the coordinateindicating apparatus 200 as the activation region. That is, alower-right region that may be affected by a right hand gripping thecoordinate indicating apparatus 200 may be determined as thedeactivation region and the remaining region may be determined as theactivation region.

In addition, if the determined form of the user's grip is a left-handedgrip, the processor 350 may determine a right side or an upper-rightside based on the detected position of the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200 as the activation region. That is, a lower-left regionthat may be affected by a left hand gripping the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200 may be determined as the deactivation region and theremaining region may be determined as the activation region.

Although the case in which a lower region is a region that may beaffected by a gripping hand is described above, if the user grips thecoordinate measuring apparatus 300 in a direction toward a lower portionfrom an upper portion of the coordinate measuring apparatus 300, theregion that maybe affected by the hand may be an upper region. In thiscase, the aforementioned upper-right side or upper-left side may bechanged to a lower-left side or a lower-right side to describe the casewhere an upper region may be affected by a hand. In addition, if astylus pen is employed using this opposite method, the processor 350 maydetermine the activation region based on an arrangement between aposition of the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 and a detectedposition of a user's touch.

The processor 350 may determine a form of a user's grip based on adetected position of a hand using the first receiving signal, which isdescribed below with reference to FIGS. 22 and 23.

As described above, the coordinate measuring apparatus 300 according toan embodiment of the present disclosure may simultaneously receive afirst receiving signal for detection of a position of a hand and asecond receiving signal for detection of a position of a stylus pen soas to simultaneously measure the position of the hand and the positionof the stylus pen at high speed.

As described above, if the coordinate measuring apparatus 300 accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure uses the coordinateindicating apparatus 200, an activation region from which a user's touchis detectable may also be provided and, thus, a user may input variousgestures using both a hand and a coordinate indicating apparatus 200. Inaddition, a position of a hand touch and a position of the coordinateindicating apparatus 200 may be detected using only one panel and, thus,only a small installment space may be required and costs may be reducedas compared to a case in which two types of touch panels are used.

Although only basic components of the coordinate measuring apparatus 300are described above, the coordinate measuring apparatus 300 may furtherinclude various components described with reference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 18 is a diagram of the coordinate measuring apparatus 300 of FIG.17 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 18, the coordinate measuring apparatus 300 may includethe touch panel 310, the driver 330, the receiver 340, the processor350, and a connection portion 360.

The touch panel 310 may include a plurality of electrodes. In detail, asillustrated in FIG. 3, the touch panel 310 may include a first electrodegroup and a second electrode group that are arranged in differentdirections.

The first electrode group may include a plurality of first electrodes311, 312, 313, 314, 315, and 316 that are each arranged in a firstdirection (e.g. a horizontal direction). In this case, the firstelectrode may be a transparent electrode that is formed of ITO material.Each of the plurality of first electrodes 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, and316 in the first electrode group may be an electrode for transmitting afirst driving signal during detection of a position of a finger.

The second electrode group may include a plurality of second electrodes321, 322, 323, 324, 325, and 326 that are each arranged in a seconddirection (e.g. a vertical direction). In this case, the secondelectrode may be a transparent electrode that is formed of an ITOmaterial. Each of the plurality of second electrodes 321, 322, 323, 324,325, and 326 in the second electrode group may be an electrode forreceiving a first receiving signal caused by the first driving signalinput from the first electrode during detection of a position of afinger.

Although an example in which each electrode group includes only sixelectrodes is illustrated, the present disclosure is not limitedthereto. For example, seven or more electrodes or five or lesselectrodes may be used. Although electrodes in each electrode group areeach shaped like a simple rectangular in the illustrated example, thepresent disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, each electrodemay be shaped with a different and/or more complex shape.

The driver 330 may apply a first driving signal and/or a second drivingsignal to the touch panel 310 at a predetermined time point. A detaileddescription of an operation of the driver 330 is provided above, withreference to FIG. 17 and, thus, a repeat of the description is notprovided here.

The receiver 340 may receive the first receiving signal and the secondreceiving signal. In detail, the receiver 340 may sequentially receivethe second receiving signal after receiving the first receiving signalor may simultaneously receive the first receiving signal and the secondreceiving signal. The operation of sequentially receiving the firstreceiving signal and the second receiving signal is not provided here,and thus, the operation of simultaneously receiving the first receivingsignal and the second receiving signal is described below.

In detail, the receiver 340 may receive first receiving signals from thesecond electrode in parallel in a plurality of channel units (e.g. threechannels) and receive second receiving signals from each of the firstelectrode and the second electrode in parallel in a plurality of channelunits. A configuration and operation of the receiver 340 are describedbelow in detail with reference to FIGS. 18 to 21.

The receiver 340 may perform various signal processing operations on thereceived first receiving signal and the second receiving signal. Forexample, the receiver 340 may amplify each received signal using anamplifier.

The connection portion 360 may selectively connect each electrode in thetouch panel 310 to the driver 330 or the receiver 340. The operation ofthe connection portion 360 may be performed under control of theprocessor 350 as described below and may also be performed under controlof each of the driver 330 and the receiver 340. The connection portion360 may be embodied using a plurality of switch elements.

The processor 350 may control the driver 330 and the receiver 340 tosimultaneously measure the first receiving signal corresponding to thedetection of a hand and the second receiving signal corresponding to thedetection of the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 so as tosimultaneously detect a hand and a position of the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200. The processor 350 may be embodied as a CPU, amicroprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), orthe like. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, althoughthe case in which only one processor is used is described above, aplurality of processors may be used in order to embody a functionaccording to the present disclosure.

For example, the processor 350 may control the driver 330 to apply thefirst driving signal (e.g. digital codes of driving signals applied torespective first electrodes have different values) to a first sub group311, 312, and 313 of the first electrode group in a first time periodand control the receiver 340 to receive the first receiving signal fromsome electrodes 321, 322, and 323 of the second electrode group and tosimultaneously receive the second receiving signal in a second sub group314, 315, and 316 of the first electrode group during application of thefirst driving signal.

Then, the processor 350 may control the driver 330 to continuously applythe first driving signal to the first sub group 311, 312, and 313 of thefirst electrode group for a second time period and control the receiver340 to receive the first receiving signal from some of the otherelectrodes 324, 325, and 326 and to simultaneously receive the secondreceiving signal from some electrodes 321, 322, and 323 of the secondelectrode group during application of the first driving signal.

Then, the processor 350 may control the driver 330 to apply the firstdriving signal to the second sub group 314, 315, and 316 of the firstelectrode group for a third time period and control the receiver 340 toreceive the first receiving signal from some electrodes 321, 322, and323 of the second electrode group and to simultaneously receive thesecond receiving signal from some of the other electrodes 324, 325, and326 of the second electrode group during application of the firstdriving signal.

Then, the processor 350 may control the driver 330 to continuously applythe first driving signal to the second sub group 314, 315, and 316 ofthe first electrode group for a fourth time period and control thereceiver 340 to receive the first receiving signal from some of theother electrodes 324, 325, and 326 of the second electrode group and tosimultaneously receive the second receiving signal from the first subgroup 311, 312, and 313 of the first electrode group during applicationof the first driving signal.

Through this operation, the first receiving signals required to detect ahand position and the second receiving signals received from allelectrodes required to detect a position of the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200 may be received.

In addition, upon receiving the first receiving signal of all the secondelectrodes, the processor 350 may calculate a capacitance at a pluralityof electrode intersections formed between the first electrode and thesecond electrode and determine a hand position based on the calculatedcapacitance.

For example, the processor 350 may calculate a capacitance based on achange in the first receiving signals received from each of the secondelectrodes during the first to fourth time periods, determine a Ycoordinate corresponding to the first electrode 314 with the largestchange in the calculated capacitance as a Y coordinate of a hand,calculate a capacitance based on a change in the first receiving signal,and determine an X coordinate corresponding to the second electrode 325with the largest change in the calculated capacitance as an X coordinateof a hand.

Upon receiving the second receiving signals of all electrodes, theprocessor 350 may determine a position of the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200 based on a ratio between the second receiving signalsrespectively received from the plurality of first electrode 311, 312,313, 314, 315, and 316 and a ratio between the second receiving signalsrespectively received from the plurality of second electrodes 321, 322,323, 324, 325, and 326.

For example, if a size of the second receiving signal of the firstelectrode 313 is greater than a size of the second receiving signal ofanother of the first electrodes 311, 312, 314, 315, and 316 and a sizeof a response signal of the second electrode 323 is greater than a sizeof the second receiving signal of another of the second electrodes 321,322, 324, 325, and 326, the processor 350 may determine a seconddirection touch position of the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 froma ratio between the second receiving signals received from the firstelectrodes 312, 313, and 314 and determine a touch position in the firstdirection of the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 from a ratiobetween the second receiving signals received from the second electrodes322, 323, and 324.

Even if a deactivation region is set, a hand position may be calculatedusing the method described above, and upon determining that the handposition is placed in the deactivation region, the processor 350 may notuse the corresponding position. In this case, the aforementionedoperation of simultaneously receiving the first receiving signal and thesecond receiving signal may be used without changes.

If a deactivation region is set, the processor 350 may not calculate acapacitance of intersections of electrodes corresponding to thedeactivation region during a calculation of a capacitance of theaforementioned electrode. In this case, the aforementioned operation ofsimultaneously receiving the first receiving signal and the secondreceiving signal may be used without changes.

If a deactivation region is set, the processor 350 may control thereceiver 340 so as not to receive the first receiving signal of thedeactivation region. The processor 350 may not provide the first drivingsignal of the deactivation region. In this case, the aforementionedoperation of simultaneously receiving the first receiving signal and thesecond receiving signal may be changed and applied, which is describedbelow with reference to FIGS. 19 to 21.

Although FIG. 18 illustrates a case in which a plurality of electrodesis arranged in the form of a matrix, the present disclosure is notlimited thereto, and the electrodes may be arranged in other forms otherthan a matrix.

FIGS. 19 to 21 are diagrams of a controlling method according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. For the descriptions of FIGS. 19to 21 provided below, it is assumed that the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200 is positioned at a lower-right side 20 of the touch panel310 and, thus, only an upper region of the touch panel 310 is set as apreset activation region. However, the present disclosure is not limitedthereto, and the coordinate indicating apparatus 200 may be positionedat any suitable location.

Referring to FIG. 19, the first electrode group includes a plurality offirst electrodes 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, and 316 that may be dividedinto a plurality of sub groups in a plurality of electrode units thatare consecutively arranged. For example, the first electrode group maybe divided into a first sub group 311, 312, and 313 and a second subgroup 314, 315, and 316.

A first receiver 341 may receive a first receiving signal for detectinga hand. In detail, the first receiver 341 may receive the firstreceiving signal from the plurality of second electrodes in a pluralityof channel units in parallel. For example, the first receiver 341 mayalternately receive the first receiving signal from some electrodes 321,322, and 323 of the second electrodes and some other electrodes 324,325, and 326 of the second electrodes. The first receiver 341 mayalternately receive the first receiving signal from some electrodes 321,323, and 325 of the second electrodes and some other electrodes 322,324, and 326 of the second electrodes.

A second receiver 345 may receive a second receiving signal fordetecting the coordinate indicating apparatus 200. In detail, the secondreceiver 345 may receive the second receiving signal from each of theplurality of first electrodes and second electrodes. In this case, thesecond receiver 345 may receive the second receiving signal from anelectrode to which the first driving signal is not applied and fromwhich the first receiver 341 does not receive the first receivingsignal.

In this case, the driver 330 may apply the first driving signal (Txsignal) to the first sub group 311, 312, and 31 of the first electrodegroup. In detail, digital codes of driving signals applied to respectivefirst electrodes may have different values. In this case, the first subgroup 311, 312, and 313 may be an electrode corresponding to theaforementioned preset region (e.g. an activation region).

The first receiver 341 may receive the first receiving signal from someelectrodes 321, 322, and 323 of the second electrode group duringapplication of the first driving signal.

Simultaneously, the second receiver 345 may receive the second receivingsignals from the second sub group 314, 315, and 316 of the firstelectrode group and some electrodes 324, 325, and 326 of the secondelectrode.

Referring to FIG. 20, the processor 350 may control the driver 330 tocontinuously apply the first driving signal to the first sub group 311,312, and 313 of the first electrode group.

The first receiver 341 may receive the first receiving signal from someof the other electrodes 324, 325, and 326 of the second electrodesduring application of the first driving signal.

The second receiver 345 may receive the second receiving signal fromsome electrodes 321, 322, and 323 of the second electrode group.

Referring to FIG. 21, the driver 330 may terminate an operation ofapplying a driving signal. The first receiver 341 may also terminate anoperation of receiving the first receiving signal.

The second receiver 345 may receive the second receiving signal from thefirst sub group 311, 312, and 313 b of the first electrode group.

Through the operation illustrated in FIGS. 19 to 21, the first receiver341 may receive the first receiving signal required to calculate acapacitance of interactions between some first electrodes 311, 312, and313 of the first electrode group and all the second electrodes 321, 322,323, 324, 325, and 326 of the second electrode group, and the secondreceiver 345 may receive the second receiving signals of all of thefirst electrodes 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, and 316 of the first electrodegroup and all of the second electrodes 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, and 325of the second electrode group.

Accordingly, the processor 350 may calculate only a capacitance atintersections of the aforementioned received three first electrodes andsix second electrodes to determine a position of a hand in theactivation region.

Although the case in which a sub group is pre-divided is describedabove, a sub group may be dynamically varied. In addition, although thecase in which electrodes in each sub group are continuously arranged isdescribed above, sub groups may be arranged to cross each other. Forexample, a first sub group 311, 313, and 315 of the first electrodegroup and a second sub group 312, 314, and 316 of the first electrodegroup may be differentiated.

FIGS. 22 to 23 are diagrams of a controlling method according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

In detail, FIG. 22 illustrates a case in which a right-handed user gripsthe coordinate indicating apparatus 200 and inputs a coordinate and FIG.23 illustrates a case in which a left-handed user grips the coordinateindicating apparatus 200 and inputs a coordinate.

Referring to FIG. 22, in the case of a right-handed user, a palm of theuser may be positioned in a right region A of the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200. Accordingly, upon detecting a relatively wide user touchin a right region of the coordinate indicating apparatus 200, theprocessor 350 may determine that the user is right-handed. Accordingly,upon detecting the coordinate indicating apparatus 200, the processor350 may set a lower-right region based on a position of the coordinateindicating apparatus 200 as a deactivation region and set the remainingregion as an activation region.

Referring to FIG. 23, in a case of a left-handed user, a palm of theuser may be positioned in a left region B of the coordinate indicatingapparatus 200. Accordingly, upon detecting a relatively wide user touchin a left region of the coordinate indicating apparatus 200, theprocessor 350 may determine that the user is left-handed. Accordingly,upon detecting the coordinate indicating apparatus 200, the processor350 may set a lower-left region based on a position of the coordinateindicating apparatus 200 as a deactivation region and set the remainingregion as an activation region.

Although a case in which it is determined whether a user is right-handedor left-handed based on a first receiving signal is described above, thepresent disclosure is not limited thereto, and whether a user is aright-handed or left-handed may be set through a user interface (UI) andthe aforementioned activation and deactivation regions may be set basedon a set value.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart of a controlling method according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 24, a driving signal may be generated and provided toa touch panel at step S2410. In detail, a first driving signal fordetecting a touch of a hand may be provided to the touch panel.

A first receiving signal for detecting a change in capacitance may bereceived from the touch panel at step S2420.

A second receiving signal corresponding to a signal transmitted from thecoordinate indicating apparatus 200 may be received at step S2430.Reception of the second receiving signal may be performed after theaforementioned reception of the first receiving signal or may beperformed simultaneously during the aforementioned reception of thefirst receiving signal.

An activation region from which a position of a hand is to be detectedmay be determined based on the second receiving signal at step S2440. Indetail, if a second receiving signal is not received or only a secondreceiving signal of a preset size or less is received, it may bedetermined that a coordinate indicating apparatus 200 is not positionedand the entirety of the touch panel may be determined as an activationregion. If the second receiving signal is received and has a preset sizeor more, it may be determined that the coordinate indicating apparatus200 is positioned, only a preset region of the touch panel may bedetermined as an activation region, and the remaining region may bedetermined as the deactivation region. A position of the coordinateindicating apparatus 200 may be determined based on the received secondreceiving signal. The preset region may be an upper region of the touchpanel and may be a region that is varied based on a position of thecoordinate indicating apparatus 200.

A position of a hand may be determined in the determined activationregion at step S2450.

As described above, in the controlling method of the coordinatemeasuring apparatus 300 according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, if a coordinate indicating apparatus 200 is used, anactivation region from which a user's touch is detectable may also beprovided and, thus, the user may input various gestures using both ahand and the coordinate indicating apparatus 200. Detection of a touchof a hand may be deactivated with respect to a partial region, and thus,a touch error due to gripping the coordinate measuring apparatus 300 maybe avoided. The method of FIG. 24 may be performed on the coordinatemeasuring apparatus 100, 300 of FIG. 2 or 17 and may be performed on acoordination measuring apparatus 100, 300 including other components.

The aforementioned controlling method may be embodied as a programexecutable in the coordinate measuring apparatus 100, 300 and stored andprovided in a non-transitory computer readable recording medium. Theprogram may be stored in a separate device such as a server anddownloaded and installed in the coordinate measuring apparatus 300.

The non-transitory computer readable recording medium may be a mediumwhich does not store data temporarily such as a register, a cache, andmemory, but stores data semi-permanently and is readable by devices.

The foregoing embodiments are merely exemplary and are not intended tobe construed as limiting the present disclosure. The present disclosuremay be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. Also, thedescription of each embodiment of the present disclosure isillustrative, and is not intended to limit the scope of the presentdisclosure, and many alternatives, modifications, and variations will beapparent to those skilled in the art. It is intended that the presentdisclosure includes all alternatives, modifications, and variations ofthe present disclosure that are within the scope of the presentdisclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A coordinate measuring apparatus, comprising: atouch panel comprising a plurality of electrodes; a driver configured togenerate a driving signal and to provide the driving signal to the touchpanel; a receiver configured to receive from the touch panel a firstreceiving signal and a second receiving signal corresponding to a signaltransmitted from a coordinate indicating apparatus; and a processorconfigured to: identify a form of a user's grip on the coordinateindicating apparatus based on the first receiving signal; and identifyan activation region and a deactivation region of the touch panel basedon the identified form of the user's grip and the second receivingsignal.
 2. The coordinate measuring apparatus of claim 1, wherein theprocessor is configured to identify whether a hand gripping thecoordinate indicating apparatus is a left hand or a right hand based onthe form of the user's grip and the second receiving signal.
 3. Thecoordinate measuring apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processor isconfigured to: based on the form of the user's grip being a right-handedgrip, identifying a left side or an upper-left side of the touch panelwith reference to a position corresponding to the second receivingsignal as the activation region and a remaining region as thedeactivation region, and based on the form of the user's grip being aleft-handed grip, identifying a right side or an upper-right side of thetouch panel with reference to a position corresponding to the secondreceiving signal as the activation region and a remaining region as thedeactivation region.
 4. The coordinate measuring apparatus of claim 1,wherein the processor is configured to provide a user interface (UI) forsetting the form of the user's grip, and identify the form of the user'sgrip based on a user input regarding the UI.
 5. The coordinate measuringapparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to identify atleast one of a touch signal and the second receiving signal in theactivation region, and identify the second receiving signal in thedeactivation region, wherein the touch signal is different from thefirst receiving signal according to the form of the user's grip.
 6. Thecoordinate measuring apparatus of claim 5, wherein the processor isconfigured to, based on the touch signal being identified in thedeactivation region, ignore the touch signal, and based on the secondreceiving signal being identified in the deactivation region,re-identify the activation region and the deactivation region.
 7. Thecoordinate measuring apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor isconfigured to identify the activation region and the deactivation regionof the touch panel based on a history of identification regarding theform of the user's grip and the second receiving signal.
 8. A method ofcontrolling a coordinate measuring apparatus comprising a touch panel,comprising: generating, by a driver, a driving signal and providing thedriving signal to at least one of a plurality of electrodes of the touchpanel; receiving, by a receiver, a first receiving signal; receiving, bythe receiver, a second receiving signal, through at least one of theplurality of the electrodes, corresponding to a signal transmitted froma coordinate indicating apparatus; identifying, by a processor, a formof a user's grip on the coordinate indicating apparatus based on thefirst receiving signal; and identifying, by the processor, an activationregion and a deactivation region of the touch panel based on theidentified form of the user's grip and the second receiving signal. 9.The method of claim 8, wherein identifying, by the processor, the formof the user's grip comprises identifying whether a hand gripping thecoordinate indicating apparatus is a left hand or a right hand based onthe form of the user's grip and the second receiving signal.
 10. Themethod of claim 9, wherein identifying, by the processor, the activationregion and the deactivation region comprises, based on the form of theuser's grip being a right-handed grip, identifying a left side or anupper-left side of the touch panel with reference to a positioncorresponding to the second receiving signal as the activation regionand a remaining region as the deactivation region, and based on the formof the user's grip being a left-handed grip, identifying a right side oran upper-right side of the touch panel with reference to a positioncorresponding to the second receiving signal as the activation regionand a remaining region as the deactivation region.
 11. The method ofclaim 8, further comprising providing a user interface (UI) for settingthe form of the user's grip, and identify the form of the user's gripbased on a user input regarding the UI.
 12. The method of claim 8,further comprising identifying at least one of a touch signal and thesecond receiving signal in the activation region, and identify thesecond receiving signal in the deactivation region, wherein the touchsignal is different from the first receiving signal according to theform of the user's grip.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising,based on the touch signal being identified in the deactivation region,ignoring the touch signal, and based on the second receiving signalbeing identified in the deactivation region, re-identifying theactivation region and the deactivation region.
 14. The method of claim8, wherein identifying, by the processor, the activation region and thedeactivation region comprises, identifying the activation region and thedeactivation region of the touch panel based on a history ofidentification regarding the form of the user's grip and the secondreceiving signal.